NAVAL AIR: J-15 Arrives

NAVAL AIR: J-15 ArrivesOctober 29, 2012: The Chinese carrier fighter, the J-15, appears ready for production. One was recently seen making touch and go landings on the new carrier Liaoning. Several J-15s have been seen at navy air bases painted as combat, not development, aircraft. About twenty J-15s have been built so far for use in testing.

For most of the last decade China has been developing the J-15, which is a carrier version of the Russian Su-27. There is already a Russian version of this, called the Su-33. Russia refused to sell Su-33s to China, when it was noted that China was making illegal copies of the Su-27 (as the J-11), and did not want to place a big order for Su-33s, but only wanted two, for "evaluation." China eventually got a Su-33 from Ukraine in 2001, which inherited some when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.